How to Become A Successful Blogger: A 17-Step Guide

Everyone who starts a blog wants to learn how to become a successful blogger. Maybe you started your blog because you read someone’s income report. Now you’re thinking, hey I can do that. Well, guess what?

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I have no doubt that you have it in you to become a successful blogger. But don’t believe for an instance that it’s going to be easy.

It doesn’t matter whether you launch a lifestyle blog or a fashion blog. The truth is that it takes time to grow a blog and make money with it.

Growing a blog is the hard part. This is the part that separates the successful bloggers and the bloggers who are just testing the waters to see if they have what it takes to grow a blog.

If you’re the type of person who knows that you can take control of your own financial destiny and are willing to roll up your sleeves and work hard.

Well, then I am going to walk you through step-by-step on what it actually turn a blog from hobby to profit.

How to Become A Successful Blogger: A 17-Step Guide

I’ve learned so much about blogging from this blog and my past blogging failures. Every successful blogger runs their blog differently than the next blogger. But with along with these differences, every blogger has some similarities.

The successful bloggers that I know are implementing all the steps below.

#1 Start A Blog

If you really want to earn money from home, then you need to start your blog. I know a lot of people have that someday mentality. Someday I’ll start my blog, today is not the right day.

Well, guess what?

Nothing is ever going to change if you don’t actually start. Every blogger that I know started from zero. Heck, some people failed with their first blog. (I know I did)

It’s okay to fail, it’s just a part of life. The one thing you need to understand is that nothing is ever going to change if you don’t take that leap of faith.

The only way that you’ll ever become a successful blogger is to get your blog started today. Imagine where you’ll be a year from now if you start right now.

Oh and no you don’t need to do a big blog launch for your blog. When I started this blog, I started with one blog post and built it up from there.

There are other bloggers who have had faster success because they wrote tons of articles before launching their blog.

Whether you start with one blog post or 30 posts, the important thing is to start today.

Note: Don’t make the mistake of trying to blog for free. Building a business requires you to spend some money, but the great news is that it doesn’t cost a lot of money to start a blog.

#2 Create A Cohesive Brand and Design

One of the things that separate newbie bloggers and successful bloggers is the design of their blogs. Every successful blogger has a cohesive design that looks professional.

If you’re using a self-hosted WordPress blog, then it won’t be hard to make your blog look like you spent a thousand dollars without actually spending that much. My go-to for my WordPress design is StudioPress.

I am currently using the Genesis Framework and a child theme from StudioPress. It’s definitely worth the money and the best part is that I didn’t have to pay a designer a fortune.

You can also enroll in the Billionaire Blog Club and the creator will walk you through on how to set up a professional blog that actually makes money. I took this course and still go back to reference things that I need help with on a regular basis.

#3 Use High-Quality Photos

To be a successful blogger you need to use high-quality photos. So many new bloggers underestimate this and spend hours trying to find free images online.

If you want to be successful, you need to be using images that look amazing. Especially if you plan on using social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest to grow your audience.

Your images will play a huge part in building your business.

I use images from Creative Market, Deposit Photos, and Haute Chocolate.

If you use stock photos, then I recommend using one of the sites above. Of course, you can work on your photography skills and take your own images as well. Either way, make sure that your images look good.

#4 Produce Content Consistently

To be a successful blogger, you’re going to need to produce content on a consistent basis.

Professional bloggers understand the importance of blogging on a consistent basis. Whether you choose to blog once a week, or 3 times a week. The important thing is that you need to create a blogging schedule that you are comfortable with and stick with it.

As you start growing your followers, your readers will know what to expect and will know when you publish a new blog post.

It’s okay to change your schedule over time. When I started this blog, I was posting once a week. Now that I am focused on growing it, I am now posting new content 3 times per week.

If your blog is brand new and you are focusing on growth, you’ll probably want to post content more often. Once your blog has gained traction, you can scale back to one per week.

Do what works for you, the important thing is to stay consistent with your blogging efforts.

Here is a Blog that does this very well is: My Perfect Blog

#5 Be Transparent and Honest

To be a successful blogger you need to be transparent and honest with your readers.

Successful bloggers are always honest and transparent with their readers. They share their successes and failures with their audience. They realize that by being vulnerable with their audience is what builds the trust.

This doesn’t mean that you should turn your blog into a personal diary and share everything in your life. But if you can share a personal story or give people an inside look at your personal life, it helps them get to know you. A lot of bloggers choose to be transparent by sharing their income reports on their blogs.

This helps their readers understand that it is possible to earn money from a blog. Plus it’s always motivating to see how a blogger earns money from their blog.

While I don’t share my income reports on my blog. I do choose to share my monthly blog growth updates with you. The reason I do this is that I know how hard it is to grow a blog. If you’re starting from zero, it is hard to build traction to a blog.

You’ll find what I am doing to grow this blog and I am as transparent as possible with the blogging tasks I do on a regular basis. Head over here to read my blog growth updates.

#6 Know Your Voice

To be a successful blogger, you’ll need to work on your blogging voice.

Professional bloggers have developed their own blogging voice. This means that they are not trying to be anyone else. If you met them offline you would probably notice that they are not any different than they are on their blog.

You don’t have to try to be like anyone else. I know it’s so easy to visit another blog and “say wow they are awesome, I think that I’ll try to do that on my blog.”

The truth is that the way you build trust with your audience is to just be yourself. Don’t try to be like anyone else. This is what is going to attract people to you. If you start accepting guest posts, it’s so important to make sure that your guest blogger makes their articles sound like you.

Once you develop your voice people get accustomed to that. It takes time to develop your blogging voice so don’t stress yourself out about it.

#7 Master SEO

Every successful blogger understands the importance of optimizing their blog posts. You can’t expect to just write content and magically get traffic from Google.

Instead, you need to focus on optimizing your blog posts properly. Check out my How to Use Yoast SEO Everything You Need to Know.

It takes a while to see traffic from Google. This is one of the reasons that new bloggers should start with Pinterest. Although you can’t expect to just pin blindly, it doesn’t work. (I’ve tried that and failed) Instead, you need to have a pinning strategy that works.

If you’re brand new to Pinterest, I recommend investing in the Pinning Perfect course. It’s the same course that I took when I knew nothing about Pinterest.

Don’t make the mistake of trying to learn everything about Pinterest for free. Pinterest can definitely help you get traffic to your blog, but it won’t happen if you don’t know what you’re doing.

#10 Run Your Blog Like A Business

To be a successful blogger you need to run your blog like a business.

This means that you need to know how to turn your blog into a business.

Every successful blogger understands that their blog can be used to help them grow their business. They also realize that their blog is not their business. This is why you see so many bloggers invest their time in creating digital products like online courses, eBooks, and other info products. You can check mine out here.

Use your blogging platform to help you build your audience and let people know you. But don’t overestimate the fact of using it to help you launch your own products.

#12 Monetize Your Blog

To be a successful blogger you need to start monetizing your blog. Don’t be scared to start monetizing your blog and start learning how to make money blogging plus five ways that you can start doing today.

No two bloggers are the same when it comes to making money with a blog. Every successful blogger understands that what works for one blogger may not necessarily work for them.

Successful bloggers understand that they can make money in multiple ways with their blog. They understand the importance of using multiple income streams and test and tweak till they find the ones that actually work for their blog.

Every blogger is different and no two blogs make money the same way. That’s why I wanted to share some bloggers who are killing it in specific areas that you might be considering venturing into.

#13 Invest In Your Blogging Education

To be a successful blogger you have to invest in your blog. Starting a new blog doesn’t have to break the bank. Learn which blogging costs a new blogger shouldn’t skimp on.

Successful bloggers understand that they can’t do everything for free. If you are serious about building a profitable blog, you need to invest in your blogging education. I am linking to some of the courses that I have personally used that have helped me take my blog and would highly recommend for new bloggers.

Remember, investing in your blogging education will help you take your blog to the next level.

Don’t be scared to invest in your blogging education. Every successful blogger has invested in courses or coaches that have helped them get to that next level. You can’t do it all by yourself.

Blogging for beginners can be challenging. Most people want to do everything for free, but the truth is that it will take you a lot longer to reach your blogging goals.

The cool thing is that whenever I invest in a course or product, I always notice a growth in my blog. As long as you put what you learn into action, you will see growth from your blog.

#14 Do Something to Grow Your Blog Every day

To be a successful blogger you need to work on your blog every day. If you are still working a 9-5 job or have other responsibilities, it’s important to create blogging tasks that you do on a daily basis.

Successful bloggers didn’t get to their six-figure status by just working on their blogs when they felt like it. They worked on their blog every day.

Even those days when they weren’t getting any traffic or subscribers, they continued working on their blogs. It can be discouraging when you’re pumping out content and you’re not getting traffic.

However, you just need to push through those down times and just keep working on your blog. Eventually, you’ll start to see the traffic and money start coming in.

But it won’t happen if you’re not working on your blog on a daily basis.

#15 Engage With Your Audience

To be a successful blogger you need to take the time to engage with your audience. This means that you need to respond to comments and connect with your tribe on social media.

Really successful bloggers have learned how to use all the social media platforms to connect with their audience. It’s not hard to see these bloggers because they make themselves available to their followers.

It still amazes me that whenever I am in someone’s Facebook group and someone asks a question and there they are answering questions quickly.

A Blog that does this exceptionally well and always responds to every comment: BlogTyrant

#16 Add Value

To be a successful blogger your blog must add value to your reader’s lives.

The only way that you are going to earn the trust of your readers and gain a loyal following is to provide valuable content that helps your readers.

If your blog can help your audience with their problems then you shouldn’t have any issues growing your tribe. People will start to trust you because of the quality of your content.

#17 Don’t Compare Yourself to Others

To be a successful blogger you need to put your head down and stop comparing yourself to others. You can’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.

Successful bloggers understand that their journey is their own journey. You can’t compare your journey to someone else. Plus everyone’s journey is different.

Set your blogging goals and then do everything that you can do to reach them. While it’s okay to look at what other bloggers do and how they are making money. You are on your own journey and as long as you keep blogging, eventually, you will reach your goals.

Final Take Away

Learning how to be a successful blogger takes time. No one is a born a blogger. Instead, we decide that we want to start a blog and we keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Yes, you might fall down. But as long as you keep getting up and keep going forward, you will start to see success.

Remember, we all start from zero. No one started with thousands and thousands of followers. The only difference between successful bloggers and you is time and persistence.

Hand Picked Articles for You

Hopefully, this 17-step guide will help you learn what it takes to become a successful blogger. It definitely doesn’t happen overnight. But if you implement these steps, I have no doubt that you’ll learn how to create a successful blog over time.

My Recommended Blogging Resources!

Here are my affiliate links for my most recommended resources. I hope these resources can help you grow your blog too!

ShareASale: ShareASale is one of my favorite affiliate networks. It’s free to sign up and they have tons of advertisers that make it easy for any blogger to make money through affiliate marketing.

SEMRush: This tool is amazing and has helped me increase my organic traffic. It is expensive, so don’t pay for it every month. When I’m NOT using it, I’m using KWFinder to help me with my keyword research.

About Susan Velez

Hi! I'm Susan welcome to my blog. Are you ready to use the Internet and a computer to change your finances? I share tips to help you make money online through blogging, side hustles and other non-traditional methods learn moreTwitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube

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Comments

Hi Susan,
Another great article here. The 17 steps here at all amazing. Becoming a success in blogging is not a an overnight thing, you need to put in effort to achieve success. The starting point has always been to setup your own blog. Your blog is your real estate, you don’t want to build on someone else’ s property. However, before setting up your blog, you need to decide on which blogging niche to focus on. In this case, I suggest you take in consideration the profitability of the niche you want to blog about and your passion for the niche. Thus, the must be a balance between the two. But in all you must chose a profitable niche over passion because you must pay the bills.
I love the idea of networking with others in your circle as this will help you grow your blog fast. Developing your own voice is essential too, because it will help you build trust with your target market.

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